Two people are injured after an underground blast caused manhole covers to fly. Providence fire fighters were responding to a call around 11:00am Monday of a strange odor at 300 Richmond in Providence’s Jewelry District when National Grid said a mix of fire and gases caused eight manhole covers to fly into the air.

National Grid said there were readings of high levels of carbon monoxide at the location. Providence Police Commissioner Steven Pare said two pedestrians were slightly injured.

The Education Blog

8:03 am

Wed September 11, 2013

The first day of classes started with a bang for many students at Johnson & Wales University when a utility cable exploded underneath two dormitories. The blast occurred at roughly 5:00 in the morning. Johnson & Wales officials said they had to evacuate nearly 1,000 students, most of them freshmen.

National Grid is investigating the cause of the explosion, which appeared to center on a cable located in an underground vault just next to the university's Providence dorms. No one was injured in the incident.